Elewana Loisaba Tented Camp | Mount Kenya
Perched on the edge of an escarpment with uninterrupted views stretching to Mount Kenya, Elewana Loisaba Tented Camp sits within one of northern Kenya’s most significant conservation success stories.
The 56,000-acre Loisaba Conservancy, owned by the Loisaba Community Trust following a transition supported by The Nature Conservancy, forms a critical wildlife corridor linking Laikipia to the wilder landscapes further north, and every guest who stays here plays a direct part in funding that work.
This is a property I steer clients toward when they want genuine adventure alongside their game viewing. Horseback safaris, camel trekking, and mountain biking aren’t standard offerings at most Kenyan camps, and Loisaba’s conservancy setting makes all of them possible here, alongside one of the most talked-about sleeping experiences anywhere on the continent.
Loisaba provides a critical, secure sanctuary for more than 700 elephants, both resident and non-resident, every one of them individually identified and named by Daniel Lentipo, the conservancy’s resident researcher supported by the conservation organization Space for Giants, whose ongoing work is considered genuinely important to the wider survival of Africa’s elephant population.
The conservancy has also recently become home to Kenya’s newest black rhino sanctuary, a significant addition to the country’s broader rhino conservation efforts.
All tourism revenue generated across Loisaba’s properties, which today include the original Tented Camp, the Star Beds, and the more recently added, ultra-private Lodo Springs, is reinvested directly into conservation and community programs, funding anti-poaching patrols, improved access to education and healthcare, and support for local livelihoods in the surrounding Samburu and Laikipia Maasai communities who co-manage the land.
The conservancy’s scale, close to 56,000 acres, gives it a genuinely different character from the smaller, more tightly bounded conservancies found in the Mara, with a correspondingly lower density of both wildlife-viewing vehicles and other guests at any given sighting.
The Tented Camp
Loisaba Tented Camp itself holds twelve spacious, custom-built tents finished in an Africana style with a distinct European twist, featuring floor-to-ceiling doors and windows, polished wood floors and beams, plush rugs, a comfortable lounge area, and en-suite facilities with twin washbasins and a large solar-heated rainfall shower.
Three of the twelve tents can be configured as family units, connecting two tents along a private walkway and, in some configurations, incorporating their own private infinity pool, a genuinely rare feature at this level of the market.
The main lounge flows through to an open dining area with separate tables positioned to maximize the sweeping views, and an adjoining deck offers further seating for guests who’d rather dine outside. A few steps down from the deck sits one of the camp’s signature features: an infinity pool with a setting striking enough that guests often spend a genuine amount of time simply floating and taking in the plains below.
The Star Beds Experience
No description of Loisaba is complete without its signature Star Beds, hand-carved four-poster beds mounted on wheels and rolled out from beneath a thatched roof onto raised, open-air wooden platforms so guests can sleep directly beneath the night sky. There are two distinct Star Beds locations within the conservancy.
The Kiboko Star Beds, roughly twenty minutes from the main lodge, sit among a kopje of rocks overlooking the Kiboko Dam waterhole, and following a 2015 refurbishment now offer four accommodation platforms, three en-suite double rooms and one family platform with two double beds, along with a dedicated dining area and a dedicated stargazing platform.
The Koija Star Beds, roughly thirty minutes further out, overlook the Ewaso Nyiro River instead, offering three further platforms for guests wanting a genuinely different vantage point within the same broader conservancy.
Each Star Beds bathroom is built directly into the surrounding natural rock, open-plan for a genuinely memorable shower-with-a-view, and guests are hosted throughout their stay by a dedicated team of traditional Samburu and Laikipia Maasai warriors, who bring real cultural depth to what could otherwise be treated as a novelty stay.
Dining here happens either under tented cover or, for the more adventurous, entirely al fresco, with an open-air sunset dinner adding a genuine sense of romance to the evening meal. Positioned just off the equator, Loisaba’s night skies are exceptional even by northern Kenya standards, and guests staying here regularly report falling asleep to the sound of hippos or other wildlife at the waterhole below while watching shooting stars overhead.
A dedicated attendant remains nearby throughout the night for safety and assistance, and each platform includes proper bedding and mosquito protection despite the fully open-air setting.
Amenities
Beyond the infinity pools and open-air dining areas, both the Tented Camp and the Star Beds maintain a small library and lounge area well suited to a relaxed afternoon, and the camp’s central location within the conservancy makes it a practical base for accessing the full range of Loisaba’s varied activities.
Wi-Fi is available in common areas, and the camp’s staff are drawn substantially from the surrounding Samburu and Laikipia Maasai communities, giving service here a genuinely local, personal quality.
Given the conservancy’s remote northern location, most guests arrive via a short scheduled or chartered flight from Nairobi’s Wilson Airport directly to Loisaba’s own airstrip, a considerably more comfortable option than the long road transfer this part of Kenya would otherwise require.
Guests wanting an even more exclusive experience within the same conservancy can also consider Loisaba Lodo Springs, a smaller, eight-room sister property with its own dedicated guest ambassador, safari vehicle, and field guide assigned to each room for the length of the stay.
Activities Across the Conservancy
Loisaba’s private status allows for a genuinely wide range of activities beyond standard game drives, including day and night drives in custom-built Land Rovers, horseback safaris, camel trekking, guided bush walks, mountain biking, and fishing.
Horseback safaris in particular are a genuine highlight for experienced riders, offering a completely different vantage point on the conservancy’s wildlife than a vehicle ever could, and camel trekking, arranged with local Samburu handlers, adds a further, distinctly northern Kenyan dimension to the activity list.
Visits to nearby Samburu villages offer authentic cultural exchange, and guests can also meet the conservancy’s anti-poaching sniffer dog unit, a hands-on look at the conservation work that makes the whole Loisaba model possible.
With sightings around big cats capped at a maximum of three vehicles, the conservancy’s approach to wildlife viewing prioritizes quality and intimacy over volume at every turn, and guides here are known for their patience in tracking specific individual animals, including many of the elephants Daniel Lentipo’s research team has spent years getting to know by name.
Best Time to Visit
Laikipia’s dry seasons, roughly June through October and January through March, offer the clearest skies for the Star Beds experience and the most comfortable conditions for horseback safaris and mountain biking. Unlike the Mara, Laikipia isn’t defined by migration timing, so the decision here comes down more to activity preferences and general comfort than any single seasonal event.
The wetter months bring a lush, dramatically green landscape and excellent birdlife, along with lower rates, though some of the more adventurous activities like extended horseback safaris may be adjusted depending on ground conditions.
Given the conservancy’s genuinely varied terrain and activity list, I’d generally recommend a minimum of three nights here to properly sample the range of what Loisaba offers beyond standard game drives, ideally splitting time between the Tented Camp and one of the two Star Beds locations for a genuinely varied stay.
Why It’s Worth the Price
Elewana Loisaba Tented Camp sits in Kenya’s upper-middle luxury tier, offering genuinely exceptional value relative to some of the ultra-premium Mara properties given the sheer breadth of activities included.
The conservancy’s direct reinvestment of tourism revenue into anti-poaching, elephant research, and community programs gives a stay here real conservation weight, and the combination of the Star Beds experience across two genuinely different locations, real adventure activities, and consistently strong wildlife viewing makes Loisaba one of the more well-rounded properties on this list for travelers who want more from a safari than vehicle-based game drives alone.
